The 2018 Indy Eleven season was the club's fifth season of existence, and their first season in the United Soccer League following their move from the North American Soccer League on January 10. Indy also competed in the U.S. Open Cup. The season covered the period from October 30, 2017, to the beginning of the 2019 USL season.
2018 marked a number of firsts for the club: the first year that home matches were played in Lucas Oil Stadium, located in downtown Indianapolis, as well as the first year of Martin Rennie's managerial tenure. Although Rennie was victorious in his first game in charge of the club, Indy were defeated in their first-ever match at their new home stadium. The season average of 10,163 fans per home match was the second-largest average attendance in Indy Eleven history, behind only the club's inaugural season.
The Eleven qualified for the USL playoffs in their first season in the league, finishing with 49 points and earning the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. However, they were eliminated in the conference quarterfinals by Louisville City, who went on to win USL Cup for the second consecutive season. In the U.S. Open Cup, Indy was eliminated in the second round by fourth-tier Mississippi Brilla, marking the second consecutive season that the club was knocked out by a Premier Development League opponent.
Roster
No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Signed in Previous club Apps. Goals Goalkeepers 0 Ben Lundgaard GK 2018 Columbus Crew SC (loan) 0 0 1 Owain Fôn Williams GK 2018 Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 36 0 25 Jordan Farr GK 2018 Corban Warriors 0 0 Defenders 3 Tyler Pasher DF 2018 Sporting Kansas City 10 1 5 Reiner Ferreira DF 2018 San Francisco Deltas 17 1 7 Ayoze DF 2018 New York Cosmos 30 4 19 Carlyle Mitchell DF 2018 Central 32 2 20 Karl Ouimette DF 2018 San Francisco Deltas 33 3 21 Brad Rusin DF 2018 Miami FC 12 0 22 Kevin Venegas DF 2018 Minnesota United FC 22 1 Midfielders 2 Dylan Mares MF 2018 Miami FC 2 92 13 4 Brad Ring MF 2014 Portland Timbers 115 4 6 Nico Matern MF 2018 Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats 28 0 8 Matt Watson MF 2018 Phoenix Rising 31 1 10 Ben Speas MF 2017 Minnesota United 52 7 12 Amass Amankona MF 2018 Dayton Dutch Lions 1 0 16 Juan Guerra MF 2018 New York Cosmos 26 1 18 Seth Moses MF 2018 Puerto Rico FC 22 0 23 Zach Steinberger MF 2018 Jacksonville Armada 30 3 27 Nathan Lewis MF 2018 Central 11 0 Diego Campos MF 2018 Chicago Fire (loan) 0 0 Forwards 9 Eugene Starikov FW 2018 New York Cosmos 19 6 14 Soony Saad FW 2018 Sporting Kansas City 30 5 17 Justin Braun FW 2016 Sacramento Republic 64 19 28 Elliot Collier FW 2018 Chicago Fire (loan) 11 1 99 Jack McInerney FW 2018 LA Galaxy 32 10
Staff Martin Rennie – Head Coach Phillip Dos Santos – Assistant Coach David Dixon – Assistant Coach Andy Swift – Goalkeeper Coach
Preseason Indy Eleven played a seven-match preseason schedule ahead of the season, featuring four matches against fellow professional clubs, two games against collegiate teams, and one game against an independent club. Although five of the seven matches were officially home matches for Indy, none of them were played at Lucas Oil Stadium; instead, they were played at different sites around the Indianapolis metropolitan area.
Competitions
USL
Standings
Results summary
Results by round
Match results In August 2017, the USL announced that the 2018 season would span 34 games, the longest regular season the league had ever run. The expansion was spurred by the addition of six new clubs for the 2018 season: alongside Indy, the league also welcomed in Atlanta United 2, Fresno FC, Las Vegas Lights, Nashville SC, and North Carolina FC.
On January 12, 2018, the league announced home openers for every club. Indy began the season on the road, facing off against Richmond Kickers on March 24. The Eleven opened their home slate a week later, welcoming FC Cincinnati to Lucas Oil Stadium for the first match at the stadium in club history.
The schedule for the remainder of the 2018 season was released by the club on February 6. Indy played three times against four different clubs: FC Cincinnati, Louisville City, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, and Bethlehem Steel FC. They faced every other Eastern Conference team twice.
Postseason
U.S. Open Cup
Statistics
Appearances and goals
Disciplinary record No. Pos. Name USL USL Playoffs U.S. Open Cup Total 1 GK Owain Fôn Williams30000030 2 MF Dylan Mares10000010 4 MF Brad Ring50001060 5 DF Reiner Ferreira40000040 6 MF Nico Matern41000041 7 DF Ayoze60000060 8 MF Matt Watson30000030 9 FW Eugene Starikov20000020 16 MF Juan Guerra30000030 17 FW Justin Braun10000010 18 MF Seth Moses30000030 19 DF Carlyle Mitchell50100060 20 DF Karl Ouimette22100032 21 DF Brad Rusin30000030 22 DF Kevin Venegas20000020 23 MF Zach Steinberger10000010 99 FW Jack McInerney70000070
Clean sheets No. Name USL USL Playoffs U.S. Open Cup Total Games Played 0 Ben Lundgaard00000 1 Owain Fôn Williams11001136 25 Jordan Farr00000
Transfers
In Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesDateSource DF Reiner Ferreira San Francisco Deltas Added to the roster following receipt of his P-1 visa. January 25, 2018 DF Brad Rusin Miami FC Terms of the contract were undisclosed. January 25, 2018 DF Kevin Venegas Minnesota United FC Terms of the contract were undisclosed. January 25, 2018 MF Juan Guerra New York Cosmos Terms of the contract were undisclosed. January 31, 2018 MF Zach Steinberger Jacksonville Armada Terms of the contract were undisclosed. January 31, 2018 GK Jordan Farr Corban Warriors Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 2, 2018 DF Karl Ouimette San Francisco Deltas Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 2, 2018 DF Ayoze New York Cosmos Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 6, 2018 FW Eugene Starikov New York Cosmos Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 6, 2018 DF Tyler Pasher Sporting Kansas City Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 7, 2018 MF Matt Watson Phoenix Rising Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 8, 2018 MF Amass Amankona Dayton Dutch Lions Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 8, 2018 MF Seth Moses Puerto Rico FC Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 9, 2018 MF Nathan Lewis Central Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 12, 2018 DF Carlyle Mitchell Central Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 12, 2018 FW Jack McInerney LA Galaxy Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 19, 2018 FW Soony Saad Sporting Kansas City Terms of the contract were undisclosed. February 21, 2018 MF Nico Matern Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats Terms of the contract were undisclosed. March 13, 2018 MF Dylan Mares Miami FC 2 Signed for the remainder of the 2018 season. August 20, 2018
Loan in Pos.PlayerParent clubLength/NotesBeginningEndSource GK Owain Fôn Williams Inverness Caledonian Thistle Duration of the 2018 USL season. February 1, 2018 October 21, 2018 GK Ben Lundgaard Columbus Crew SC Duration of the 2018 USL season. March 7, 2018 October 21, 2018 MF Diego Campos Chicago Fire On a match-by-match basis. August 10, 2018 October 21, 2018 FW Elliot Collier Chicago Fire On a match-by-match basis. August 10, 2018 October 21, 2018
Out Pos.PlayerTransferred toFee/notesDateSource MF Adrian Ables Contract expired. October 30, 2017 GK Jon Busch Columbus Crew SC Contract expired. Signed a one-day contract to retire with Columbus. October 30, 2017 GK Keith Cardona Contract expired. October 30, 2017 DF Colin Falvey Ottawa Fury FC Contract expired. Signed for Ottawa on January 23, 2018. October 30, 2017 DF Marco Franco Penn FC Contract expired. Signed for Penn on February 27, 2018. October 30, 2017 FW David Goldsmith Michigan Bucks Contract expired. Signed for Michigan for the 2018 PDL season. October 30, 2017 MF Craig Henderson Contract expired. October 30, 2017 DF Daniel Keller Contract expired. October 30, 2017 GK Christian Lomeli Contract expired. October 30, 2017 DF Anthony Manning SIMA Águilas Contract expired. Signed with SIMA for the 2018 U.S. Open Cup. October 30, 2017 DF Cory Miller Detroit City Contract expired. Signed with Detroit for the 2018 PDL season. October 30, 2017 FW Paulo Jr. Penn FC Contract expired. Signed for Penn on June 19, 2018. October 30, 2017 MF Don Smart Miami FC 2 Contract expired. Signed for Miami on March 5, 2018. October 30, 2017 MF Tanner Thompson Contract expired. October 30, 2017 MF Gerardo Torrado Contract expired. Retired. October 30, 2017 MF Siniša Ubiparipović Contract expired. Retired. October 30, 2017 DF Nemanja Vuković Atlantic City FC Contract expired. Signed for Atlantic City on February 15, 2018. October 30, 2017 DF Kwame Watson-Siriboe KTP Contract expired. Signed for KTP on April 13, 2018. October 30, 2017 FW Éamon Zayed Charlotte Independence Contract terminated. Signed for Charlotte on March 22, 2018. January 17, 2018
Loan out Pos.PlayerLoanee clubLength/NotesBeginningEndSource MF Zach Steinberger North Carolina FC Duration of the 2018 USL season. August 24, 2018 October 14, 2018
Awards
USL Team of the Week WeekStartersBenchOpponent(s)Link 2 Jack McInerney Richmond Kickers 4 Tyler Pasher Owain Fôn Williams North Carolina FC 5 Soony Saad Nashville SC 8 Ayoze FC CincinnatiLouisville City 12 Ayoze Charleston Battery 13 Matt Watson Atlanta United 2 14 Kevin Venegas Justin Braun Toronto FC II 16 Ayoze Nashville SCPenn FC 17 Ayoze Ottawa Fury FCCharlotte Independence 20 Owain Fôn Williams Bethlehem Steel FC 21 Jack McInerney Louisville City 23 Reiner Ferreira North Carolina FCOttawa Fury FC 26 Eugene Starikov New York Red Bulls II 29 Karl Ouimette Tampa Bay RowdiesFC Cincinnati
USL Player of the Week WeekPlayerOpponent(s)Link 5 Soony Saad Nashville SC
USL Save of the Week WeekPlayerOpponentLink 4 Owain Fôn Williams North Carolina FC
Midseason USL Midseason Moments Best SC Top 10 – Soony Saad vs. Nashville SC, April 14 Best Ending – vs. Charleston Battery, May 30 Best Tifo – Brickyard Battalion, Stranger Things, March 31
Postseason USL All-League Second Team DF Ayoze
Kits
Type Shirt Shorts Socks First appearance / RecordHomeBlueBlueBlueMatch 2 vs. Cincinnati / 9–6–5AwayWhiteWhiteWhiteMatch 1 vs. Richmond / 4–5–6SpecialtyCamouflageBlueBlueMatch 16 vs. Ottawa / 0–0–1
See also Indy Eleven 2018 in American soccer 2018 USL season
References